Hedonic hunger, desire to eat, and risk of obesity in shift workers: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: To determine the hedonic hunger and desire to eat levels of shift workers and to evaluate the relationship of these conditions with obesity markers in order to understand the possible effects of working in the shift system on obesity risk. Method: The study was carried out with 226 health care professionals, aged between 19-64 years and who had been under the same working conditions for at least 6 months. In face-to-face interviews, the participants’ descriptive features (age, gender, marital status, and educational status) were questioned, anthropometric measurements (body weight, height, waist circumference) were taken, and body mass index was calculated. In order to determine hedonic hunger conditions, the Power of Food Scale was administered, and to determine the desire to eat levels, the Food Cravings Questionnaire was used. Results: In the study, shift workers were found to have higher scores on subscales of possibility of lack of eating control and feelings that can be experienced before or during meals compared to those working during the day (p<0.05). In addition, there was a low, positive correlation between body mass index values, one of the obesity markers, and Power of Food Scale total score and food accessibility and food availability subscale score of individuals working in shifts and moderate positive correlations with Food Cravings Questionnaire sub-dimensions of intention and planning, possibility of lack of eating control and experimental guilt. Again, it was observed that there was a moderate positive correlation between waist-height ratios and food accessibility and experiential guilt scores of the individuals in this group (p<0.05). When the multiple regression analysis coefficient results of the individuals working in shifts were examined, it was observed that the waist-height ratio levels of the individuals significantly affected the Power of Food Scale scale scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: The shift work system may have an effect on obesity with developing hedonic hunger and increased desire to eat.